Tag Archives: Plants

Staking a maypop 2023-05-07

Update 2023-05-30: Maypop fruit 2023-05-29.

This maypop is growing in an area we burned in January, and it had nothing to climb up on.

[Staking a maypop]
Staking a maypop

So Gretchen put in a stake for this Passiflora incarnata.

-jsq

Mushroom on log 2023-05-11

Two views of mushrooms on a log.

[Mushrooms on a log]
Mushrooms on a log

Anybody know what kind of mushroom this is?

It’s in a wet area near Redeye Creek, which runs into the Withlacoochee River.

Looks like Pleurotus ostreatus is the consensus. Apparently, “Cleaned mushrooms can be sautéed, stir-fried, braised, roasted, fried, or grilled. Use the mushrooms whole, sliced, or simply torn into appropriately sized pieces.”

-jsq

Two methods of picking potatoes 2023-05-15

Two methods of potato digging.

[Two views of 'tater digging 2023-05-15]
Two views of ‘tater digging 2023-05-15

On the left, tractor and blade. Upside: digs them right up. Downside: and buries them in the dug dirt, so you have to dig them up again. Continue reading

Native wild honeysuckle 2023-03-30

Not a common sight anymore: native wild honeysuckle.

[Lonicera sempervirens L., Coral Honeysuckle, Trumpet Honeysuckle, Woodbine]
Lonicera sempervirens L., Coral Honeysuckle, Trumpet Honeysuckle, Woodbine

This Lonicera sempervirens L. is also known as Coral Honeysuckle, Trumpet Honeysuckle, or Woodbine.

It is native to the U.S. Southeast, with some found farther north, possibly as garden escapees. Continue reading

Wild azaleas and dogwoods 2023-03-09

The native wild azalea, Rhododendron Canescens, keeps blooming on more bushes.

[Native wild azaleas and dogwood 2022-03-09]
Native wild azaleas and dogwood 2022-03-09

And we have a few blooms of dogwood, Cornus florida. Not as many as usual; we don’t know why. Continue reading

Wild Azalea and Wood Storks 2023-01-31

An early spring sight, and something more unusual.

[Wood Storks and Wild Azalea, OPF 2023-01-31]
Wood Storks and Wild Azalea, OPF 2023-01-31

We’re used to wild azaleas, Rhododendron canescens, blooming around now. Plenty of buds promise more flowers after this first one.

But the other sight was more unusual. Continue reading

Vines 2023-01-16

Maybe I should have trimmed some more vines before backing in there.

[Vines and privet]
Vines and privet

I had sawed off that privet. It was supposed to push to the side when I backed the tractor with mower in.

Instead, the grapevines and Smilax decided that invasive exotic Chinese privet would go up on top of the tractor canopy.

Probably I would have noticed earlier, but I was concentrating on not backing into a tree and not getting caught around the throat by catbriars. You know those Smilax with the stout sharp thorns and thick stems: Smilax bona-nox.

Note to self: next time take a machete. Cutting each vine with clippers took a while.

-jsq